On Tuesday voters in Wisconsin created a seismic change in the political direction of their state; they elected a liberal candidate to the State Supreme Court, flipping majority control away from conservatives, according to The Associated Press. The result means that in the next year, the court is likely to reverse the state’s abortion ban and end the use of gerrymandered legislative maps drawn by Republicans.
Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal Milwaukee County judge, defeated Daniel Kelly, a conservative former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice who sought a return to the bench. With 90 percent of votes counted, Judge Protasiewicz led by 10 percentage points.
“Our state is taking a step forward to a better and brighter future where our rights and freedoms will be protected,” she told jubilant supporters at her victory party in Milwaukee.
It wasn’t an easy or cheap campaign; with over $40 million in spending, it was the most expensive judicial election in American history. Early on, Democrats recognized the importance of the race for a swing seat on the top court in one of the country’s perennial political battlegrounds and they threw all their resources behind it. Indeed, millions of dollars flowed in from out of state to back Judge Protasiewicz, and a host of national Democratic groups rallied behind her campaign.
Judge Protasiewicz, 60, broke with the long-held practice of how to wage a judicial campaign by placing her political priorities front and center. Whereas judicial candidates keep their political positions on discrete issues a secret, she made explicit her support for abortion rights and called the newly drawn maps, which gave Republicans near-supermajority control of the Legislature, “rigged” and “unfair.”
“Rather than reading between the lines and having to do your sleuthing around like I think people have to do with him, I think I would rather just let people know what my values are,” she said. “We’ll see tonight if the electorate appreciates that candor or not.”
It is fair to say therefore, that her election serves as a referendum on the issues themselves.
Her election to a 10-year term for an officially nonpartisan seat gives Wisconsin’s liberals a 4-to-3 majority on the court, which has been controlled by conservatives since 2008. Liberals will hold a court majority until at least 2025, when a liberal justice’s term expires. A conservative justice’s term ends in 2026.
“Today’s results mean two very important and special things,” Judge Protasiewicz said. “First, it means that Wisconsin voters have made their voices heard. They have chosen to reject partisan extremism in this state. And second, it means our democracy will always prevail.”
Her opponent Daniel Kelly, was less than gracious. “I wish that I’d be able to concede to a worthy opponent, but I do not have a worthy opponent,” he told supporters in Green Lake, Wisconsin.
